Improved rotary engine



. Ntra' TATES- it-Artnr "tries,

|MPaovEof aoTAaY "enema,

-sp.-.suet.rti0thymus;'imiterLeffe-srufentlfoyaasfto,med Just-t7, 1ste:

vented certainlnew auduse'ful improvements :in ltotary' Engines; and I do herebydelare Y `#thattlielol-louring isadescription-thereofin terms which nowappear to in f tol 'hesufficienllyyiull, elear, audexacarefereuee being inedito tixefann'exed.` drawings, makiu'ga-part ofthis specifiration, in'which-L' l Figureltis a' froutelevatiou; Fig. 2, aseol ...tion through thenlines'rtzr of Fig. 1- aud y 1j o f ,Fig .l =3; Fi'g2`3, an-` inner itcevicxwofoneot t t the sections cfthe d'rnm, and Fig, -4 a View Q f thevpac'kfiugfrinw a 'loienable others'skilled in the art to make. and Anselny inyex'tion, I will proceedjto de j scribe its 'construction and4 operzsition,A .The drnni,`which I shall first describe as "beihgfs'tationary,while thecylindrical case in- 'closing itis rotatory, is cast in two. sections,

Aand B, each of which containsone half ot" .the annular stearnJehest C and one. half of the *steam-passages@ exept as .will 4be hereinafterstated.lu` 4EachV section is also' cast ,with

onefourth otfthe chambers D and y-. one-fourth, 'soif-"the pistons c andm, so that when they are bolted together by-the bolts bb the drnn'i enhl braces' one. half 'of thesaidchambers andpis-.- yytons. `The cylindrical case E. contains the otlierhalftofA chambers 'D andthe pistons'-c' 1 and l. The annular or ring steam-chest() 'lies l near to and surrounds the eye of the machine,

1` and the outer walls of the steam-passages a n p are us nearly Ltnllgentia'l to thefouter-wall of l" thestcam-chest as is practicable. i In `thesections. of the drum is :cast the err-- haustfpipmL'Cshbwn in dotted.lines,)which is j perpendicular tof the axis' of the engne'for .a distance, whenit turns oii and out of f th'e side pamllelwith the said axis. To aecommodate this pipe the 4periphery lof the 'drum at `that point is cast witha more extended surface orsegnlent,'bntstili not sufiicientl'y large to accommodate ,a part of vone of meetbaar-passages a.- This, however, 1s

"presided `for by-castingltlie seetionB wit-ha eorrespondi ng surface tml lOClf 13g therein 3110 l nlloleof one of the s'tcainpassages a, which 'oigrcater depth than the otheraso as to g" 'e' rit the'same capacity. The drum and 'thc l v cylindrical ease E are 'placed the one Within- Bei-t knownthatfl,` W. W, VIRmN,of Baltimore, in `fthe.,Sitate-uf Y Maryland, have 'iu tlieother,` and there cou'liucdvby means of the annular rings F- aud F' and boltse. These rings are grooved 4outheir inner surfaces to receive .theaunular packingri ugs f, which are alsogrooxed en theirjnuer surfaceaasseen 'at g, 'atltlie point directly over the joint made by ,the drum andcylindrioal. ease, and they are y .pressed 'against the surfaces of thedrnm 'and case-byineans of the springs It, the ends of whichA are sc en `iudotted lines in Fig-4.

1 1 u illegrooye i, formed between the annular ringfFand the angej ofthe cylindrical case E, -is securedby means of bolts or screws 7c the i-iin" Lof 4the wheel J, whose hub K passes through the eye 'of the machine. j,

lfh'e'operation ofthe engine' is as follows:

.It havingbeen attached toits foundation bfy means of thelugs L, projecting from bothsides of the drum, steam :is admitted-to the steai` chest C through the steam-passage or indue-- tion port M, fron` wl1ence it enters the chamber` D through the'v 'steam -passages a, an ranged at equal-distances around 'the whole 'periphery off-the drum, except at that point zwher'e the exhaust-pipe d is located. -Thsteanrpassages a, beingnearly or quite tangential to the outer wall of the steam-chest C', steam is introduced into chambers D, so as to act againstthe pistons Z in the' most direct 'line practicable in a rotary engine, and conse@ quently in theV inost v'efficient manner. The

passage a in the section Bref the drum corresponding with or over the exhaust-pipe is designed to be'closedwhen the exhaust is open; f otherwise, wh-eneverfthe exhaust takes place the steam passing through this passage a would blowdirectly off. I contemplate, however, the use of compressed air or other noncondensing fluid as a motive power, and when vthis is the agent employed the'exhaust-pipe may be partly or Whollf,7 closed,and the pas-- sage a over it left-"open, when thehu'id will operate equally all around thefperiphery .of

the drum. In other Words, when steamer .any other con (lensing-duid isworled, the channel a opposite theexlxaustport is to be closed.v `When working air or any other nou-eondeus ing fluid, the exlianstpipe may be partly oA 'wholly closed, and the opposite passage a b' left. open; t

` cylinder-head.

ci eme@ The arrangementof the chambers D enables me te use steam expansively to great advan-A tage, since my engine in'thie respect acts upon the principle of the cylinder-engine, all ofthe abrupt Walls or abntments lfof theI chambers 4D' corresponding-to the piston-head, while the VWalls.cr ahntments m act inthe capacity ofthe Th packing-rings ffare'placed looselyin their channelsin the annular ring F, and they are grooved, as at'g, so as Vto adniitofthe springs h pressing their inner edge upon-the face of the drn'nand thusv compensating foi` any 'wear that may -arise from' friction. -lf

preferred, the plane surfacesof'these rings may be made convex, fitting into grooves in the drum and cylindrical case; and they may -be-made,in-secf.ions,if this niode affords a hetter packing,

' The wheel J being secured totherevolving cylindrical case and the hub K forming the -axis of the engine, it will beperceived-thlat .when thev shaft hearing the pulley for comini'inicatingI power is secured withinv the saidv 4hnb we have the torce expended by the steam applied in the mosteconomcal manner.

. The -belt mayiowcver, pass over the cylindrical case; orlbnckete may be attached -to the` periphery of the cylindrical ease, when my rotary engine may be used as ar ships pro peller, revolving'v either in a line parallel to the line of progress, like :gn ordinaryA paddlewheel, or transvexse'to that line -r'lien the cylindrIeal case and drum form the'amidehip part of such a vvessel, as is shown in my applicationfor 'a patent filed in the Patent Office Noyeiber 9, 1849, and the buckets are arranged spirally, Nhenjmy engine is so used, the wheel .land hnb Kara dispensed with,

that apassagemay be provided' from fore to fh A* L Of eniirse thel drum of my .engine may be made to rotateinetead of the cylindrical case, by fixing the latter to the hedor. frame and introducing the steam into the annular chainher C through a hollow shaft.

Having time described my invention and indicated the manner in which it operates, what I claim therein as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent .of the Unitedv States, is

' 1. The chambers D, when vformed partly in the cylindrical case and 'partly in the drum and when operating in the manner substantially as described.

2. The peculiar arrangement of the steampassages a with respectto the annular or ring 

